Our 2026 Holiday Survival Toolkit offers a variety of resources and tips to help you have as happy, healthy, and stress-free a holiday as possible.
The final 6 weeks of the year is packed with holidays. Thanksgiving 11/26; Hanukkah 12/4-12/12; Christmas Day 12/25; Kwanzaa 12/26-1/1; and New Year’s Eve 12/31. We’ve added dozens of new links to resources, tips, and tools to help you navigate the season’s many challenges, and we’ve kept prior links to resources that we think are helpful. We’ll update it as the season progresses. Note: While we’ve aimed for free and accessible resources, some links may require registration.
Note to our EAP members: Help is available 24-7-365 for any difficulties you may experience. Call for counseling or coaching to deal with grief, stress, maintaining health and fitness, coping with budgets and finances, family and relationship dynamics, and more!
Money Matters
- Nerd Wallet’s 2026 Holiday Spending Report
- How to Build a Holiday Budget That Works Every Year
- BBB Tip: Shop Like a Pro and Make the Most of This Holiday Season
- Shop Smarter and Save with the Consumer Reports Price Tracker 2026
- 13 Best Price Comparison Websites for Smart Shoppers 2026
- 19 Freebies and Cheapies for the Holidays
- Thanksgiving Budget 2026: Plan Dinner and Travel Costs
- How Much Does Thanksgiving Dinner Cost in 2026? Budget, Per-Person Math and a Menu Planner
- 8 Grocery Store Thanksgiving Meal Deals to Feed More People for Less
- 6 Ways to Save on Groceries for Thanksgiving Dinner
- Making the Holidays Bright on a Budget: 5 Tips for Military Families
- Don’t Get Tangled up in Holiday Debt!
- 6 Ways Psychology Explains Black Friday Shopping
- 7 Holiday Spending Traps to Avoid This Season
- The Psychology of Holiday Shopping: 8 Common Traps to Avoid
- Credit Card Payoff Calculator
- Do’s and Don’ts of Using Credit Cards During the Holidays
Maximizing Mental Health, Minimizing Stress
- Mental Health America: Managing Holiday Challenges
- The Most Common Issues People Bring Up In Therapy Around The Holidays
- The Holiday Blues: Feeling Sad Amid the Festivities
- How to Have a Healthier, Stress-Free Holiday: 26 Things Experts Do
- How to Avoid Overdoing It This Holiday Season
- Even a Joyous Holiday Season Can Cause Stress for Most Americans
- When You Don’t Love the Season
- Supporting Your Mental Health During the Holiday Season
- Holidays Don’t Have to Be Synonymous with Excess Stress. It’s Time to Reframe Your Thinking
- Stressed During the Holidays? There’s an Exercise for That.
- Surviving Painful Holiday Emotions
- Seasonal Survival Tips
- 5 Ways to Cope With Depression During the Holiday Season
- What Doctors Wish Patients Knew About Seasonal Affective Disorder
- Down in the Doldrums? It Might Be Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.)
Staying Healthy & Well
- AAFP 2026-2027 influenza, RSV and SARS-CoV-2 Immunization Recommendations
- How to Keep Your Gut in Check Over the Holidays
- Talking Turkey: Holiday Turkey Cooking Tips
- Do Not Wash Your Turkey and Other Holiday Tips to Keep Your Food Safe
- How to Enjoy the Flavors of the Season Without Derailing Health
- Healthy Holiday Tips for People with Diabetes
- Diabetes: Healthy Eating and the Holidays
- Keeping High Blood Pressure at Bay for the Holidays
- Your Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Holiday Survival Guide: 6 Tips
- Managing Crohn’s / IBD Through the Holidays
- How to Handle Holiday Eating with Your Food Allergy Child
- Lean Into the Holidays With These 24 Healthy and Cheap Recipes
- 40 Easy Vegetarian Thanksgiving Recipes
- Vegan Holiday Recipes
- How to Cook for Someone on a Plant-Based Diet During the Holidays
- Gluten-Free Holiday Guide
- How to Survive the Holidays When You’re Gluten-Free
- 10 Ways to Squeeze in a Workout During the Holidays
Keeping a Sober Season
- How to Stay Sober During the Holidays: Your Complete Recovery Guide
- The Gift of Recovery: A Holiday Message of Hope
- How to Stay Sober During the Holidays
- How To Stay Sober This Holiday Season
- 8 Ways To Support Your Loved One In Sobriety During the Holidays
- Why Are the Holidays So Hard for Those in Recovery? A Sober Holiday Survival Guide
- Sober Curious? We’ve Got Resources to Help
Family Holiday Matters
- 10 Ways to Cope with Difficult Relatives During the Holidays
- Dealing with Difficult Family Relationships
- The 11 Worst Things You Can Say to a Family Member over the Holidays – And What to Say Instead
- Managing Tricky Family Dynamics over the Holidays
- Tips for Preventing Inter-Personal Conflict During the Holidays
- When and How to Engage Constructively in Family Arguments During the Holidays
- How to Survive Political Conversations Over the Holidays
- 5 Ways to Protect Your Energy from Toxic Family Members
- Staying Positive Around Difficult Family Members
- 24 Ways to Make the Holidays Kid-Friendly
- When Your Child Outgrows Your Favorite Holiday Traditions
- 5 Tips for Celebrating the Holidays with a Blended Family
- Blended Family and Step-Parenting Tips
- Celebrating the Holidays as a Blended Family
- 11 Tips for Caregivers During the Holidays
- Caring for an Aging Parent? Tips for Enjoying Holiday Meals
- Dear Therapist: I Don’t Want to See My Mom This Christmas
- How To Cope With Family Estrangement During The Holidays
- Divorce and Holidays: How to Help Kids
- How Divorced Parents Can Help Their Children Survive the Holidays
- Planning for Seasonal Success: Holiday Tips for Parenting Apart
- Tips for Managing the Holidays During and After Divorce
- Navigating the High Holidays After Divorce Means Creating New Traditions for Families
Handling Special Situations
- Holiday Support for Military Families
- Creating Holiday Traditions When Your Service Member Is Away
- Spending the Holidays Alone? 8 Coping Strategies
- Coping With A Loved Ones’ Eating Disorder During the Holidays
- 5 Tips for a Sensory-Friendly Thanksgiving
- How to Reduce Holiday Stress for Your Child With Autism
- Neurodivergent Insights: Holiday Topics
- Neurodivergent Notes: The Hidden Struggles of the Holiday Season
- The Holidays Aren’t Always a Celebration. It’s Much More Complicated for Foster Youth
- Holiday Tips for Caregivers
- The Holidays and Alzheimer’s
- Dementia-Friendly Holiday Toolkit
- Staying Safe and Joyful: Tips for a Dementia-Friendly Holiday Celebration
- Managing Grief During the Most Wonderful Time of Year
- Grief and Loss Throughout the Holiday Season
- Grief and the Holidays
- Navigating the Holidays After Losing a Loved One
- Helping Someone Who’s Grieving
- What to Expect From Your Grieving Friend This Holiday Season
- At The Holidays: Coping with Anticipatory Grief
Navigating Holidays at Work
- 8 Ways to Make Holiday Celebrations Inclusive This Year
- A Holiday Recipe for Workplace Inclusion: An Employer’s Guide to Multi-Cultural Celebrations
- Inclusive Holiday Planning: How to Make Your Workplace Festivities Welcoming for All
- How to Make Holiday Celebrations More Inclusive
- Mitigate Risks at Company Holiday Parties: 9 Best Practices for HR
- HR: How to Add More Meaning, Impact to Your Holiday Event
- Surviving the Holidays at Work When You Dread the Season
- Navigating Workplace Cheer While Grieving
- How to Help Employees during the Stressful Holiday Season
- 10 Tips for Addressing Workers’ Heightened Holiday Stress
- 43% of Workers Say Holiday Workplace Gifting Causes Finance Stress
- The Do’s and Don’ts of Workplace Gift Giving
- Productive Holidays: How to Keep Your Company Going During Employee Time Off
- Holiday Workplace Safety
Best Safety Practices
- Deck the Halls With Ow’s From Folly: What the Numbers Tell Us About Holiday Injuries
- Enjoy a Safe Holiday Season
- Don’t Let These 12 Holiday Safety Mistakes Ruin Your Festivities
- Thanksgiving Home Fire Safety
- Why Turkey Fryers Explode
- Don’t Let Food Poisoning Ruin Your Holiday Meal
- Prevent Food Poisoning During the Holidays
- Top 5 Food Safety Tips for the Holidays
- 8 Essential “Always” of Holiday Food Safety
- 13 Safety Tips for Christmas Lights
- The Most Dangerous Toys Under Your Christmas Tree
- W.A.T.C.H. Toy Safety
- Holiday Gift Check: Toy Safety Rules from CPSC
- Toy Safety Awareness Month Kicks Off with Holiday Guidance: Buy Smart, Play Safe
- 5 Dangerous Products Parents Should Avoid to Keep Their Kids Safe
- ‘Holiday Safety Tips for Your Pets
- 22 Holiday Items That Can Harm Your Pet
- Avoiding Trips to the ER During the Holidays
- The Most Common Reasons for ER Visits During the Holiday Season
- The 5 Most Common Holiday Insurance Claims
- Top Winter Home Insurance Claims and Tips to Reduce Homeowner Costs
Avoiding Holiday Scams
- Don’t Let Scams Ruin the Holidays
- BBB Tip: Shop Like a Pro and Make the Most of This Holiday Season
- The Naughty List: BBB’s 12 Scams of the Holidays
- Fake Shipping Notification Emails and Text Messages: What You Need to Know This Holiday Season
- Stolen Funds for the Holidays: Spot this Military Bank Scam
- Donate to Charities (Not Scammers) on Giving Tuesday
- Last-Minute Shopping? Three Ways to Spot Rip-offs
- Keep Your Money Safe from Gift Card Scammers This Holiday Season. Here’s How
- Tis the Season for Holiday Scams
- 7 Tips to Avoid Holiday Scams and Protect Your Identity in 2026
- Pass It On – FTC Info for Consumers on Common Scams
- 14 Tips to Protect Yourself from Cyber and Phone Fraud
Holiday Travel
- The Best Days To Fly For Thanksgiving to Avoid Airport Crowds
- Amtrak Encourages Travelers to Book Thanksgiving Travel Early Amid Historic Demand
- Thanksgiving Travel Safety Tips
- The Best Days to Travel Around Christmas In 2026
- The Airports Where You Should Arrive Earliest for Holiday Flights [2026 Study]
- 24 Essential Holiday Travel Tips: How To Survive Travel Chaos This Season
- Plan Your Holiday Drives with Google Maps’ Trends
- 8 Ways to Use Maps and More for Your Holiday Plans
- Tips for Holiday Travelers as New U.S. Consumer Protections Kick In
- Carry-On Luggage Rules: Everything You Can (and Can’t) Bring With You on a Plane
- Flight Attendants Share Secrets to Surviving Holiday Travel
- AI-Generated Scams Target Holiday Travelers: How To Spot The Red Flags
- Travel Scams Target Passengers Posting to Social Media about Cancellations
- Tips to Stay Active While Traveling for the Holidays
Keeping the Holidays Green
- 12 Eco-Friendly Holiday Tips That Cut Waste and Save Money
- Ready to Green Your Holiday Celebrations? Use This Sustainable and Climate-Conscious Guide
- BBB Tip: Deck the Halls the Thrifty Way
- Sustainable Holidays
- The Ultimate Guide to Sustainable Holidays
- Go Green for the Holidays
Misc. Tips
- 10 Best Christmas Holiday Hacks (2026 Update)
- USPS Holiday Shipping Deadlines
- 14 Weird Christmas Traditions to Perplex and Delight You
- The Best Kids Gift for Every Age
- The Best Public Holiday Light Displays
- NORAD Track Santa (Starts on Dec. 1)
Giving Charitable Gifts and Donations